Method of cleaning substrate processing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A method of cleaning blind spots around a substrate supporting apparatus by controlling a position of the substrate supporting apparatus includes moving the substrate supporting apparatus relative to a ring and supplying a cleaning gas to an upper space of the substrate supporting apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No.10-2018-0154397, filed on Dec. 4, 2018, in the Korean IntellectualProperty Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

One or more embodiments relate to a method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus, and more particularly, to a method of cleaning adeposited thin film between a substrate supporting apparatus and a gasflow control ring by controlling a position of the substrate supportingapparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art

When processing a substrate in a reactor of an apparatus for processingsemiconductors and displays, various chemicals are supplied. Forexample, a thin film is formed by periodically supplying chemicals to asubstrate. However, in this case, chemicals may be unnecessarilydeposited on inner walls of the reactor besides the substrate and maybecome a source of contamination in the reactor. For example,contaminants such as particles may fall onto the substrate and destroystructures on the substrate, or degrade the yield of devices. Thus, theprocess reproducibility and yield need to be maintained by periodicallycleaning the reactor.

A substrate processing apparatus is cleaned typically by using a dryin-situ cleaning method in which a cleaning gas is used, and a cleaninggas having a fluorine (F) component (for example, NF₃, CIF₃, or F₂) isused. Dry cleaning may be performed at a certain period. For example,dry cleaning may be performed after processing a batch of substrates (1batch=25 wafers), and a period of the cleaning may be set according to aprocess type or purpose.

However, there may be blind spots which are difficult to clean due tovarious components arranged in a reactor and due to a complex internalstructure of the reactor that the cleaning gas does not reach.Undischarged, residual gases react with each other and remain ascontaminants in the blind spots, thus contaminating a substrate duringsubstrate processing, destroying substrate structures or degradingelectrical characteristics of a device.

SUMMARY

One or more embodiments include a method of stably processing asubstrate by removing contaminants in blind spots. One or moreembodiments include a method of cleaning the blind spots while repairingdeviation of centering of a substrate supporting apparatus due to adifference in thermal expansion between an upper wall and a lower wallof a chamber during a high temperature process and due to a differencein thermal expansion between upper and lower portions of a reactor.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description whichfollows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may belearned by practice of the presented embodiments.

According to one or more embodiments, a method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus including one or more reactors is provided, whereineach reactor includes: a substrate supporting apparatus; and a ringsurrounding the substrate supporting apparatus, wherein a gap is presentbetween the substrate supporting apparatus and the ring, and wherein anupper space of the substrate supporting apparatus communicates with alower space of the substrate supporting apparatus via the gap, whereinthe method includes: moving the substrate supporting apparatus relativeto the ring; and supplying a cleaning gas to the upper space of thesubstrate supporting apparatus.

The moving of the substrate supporting apparatus relative to the ringmay include: a first operation of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in a first direction by a first preset distance; a secondoperation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in a seconddirection by the first preset distance; a third operation of moving thesubstrate supporting apparatus in the second direction by a secondpreset distance; and a fourth operation of moving the substratesupporting apparatus in the first direction by the second presetdistance, wherein the second direction is opposite to the firstdirection.

The first direction or the second direction may be a thickness directionof the substrate supporting apparatus, e.g. a vertical direction withrespect to the substrate supporting apparatus. The first preset distancemay be equal to or less than a thickness of the substrate supportingapparatus. The second preset distance may be equal to or less than athickness of the ring.

The first direction or the second direction may be a radius direction ofthe substrate supporting apparatus, e.g. a horizontal direction withrespect to the top surface of the substrate supporting apparatus. Thefirst preset distance or the second preset distance may be (an innerdiameter of the ring−an outer diameter of the substrate supportingapparatus)/2.

The moving of the substrate supporting apparatus relative to the ringmay include: a fifth operation of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in a third direction by a third preset distance; a sixthoperation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in a fourthdirection by the third preset distance; a seventh operation of movingthe substrate supporting apparatus in the fourth direction by a fourthpreset distance; and an eighth operation of moving the substratesupporting apparatus in the third direction by the fourth presetdistance, wherein the third direction may be opposite to the fourthdirection and may be perpendicular to the first direction and the seconddirection. The cleaning gas may be continuously supplied in the firstthrough fourth operations.

The cleaning gas may be supplied between the first operation and thesecond operation and between the third operation and the fourthoperation.

The cleaning gas may be further supplied before the first operation,wherein a supply period of the cleaning gas between the first operationand the second operation and between the third operation and the fourthoperation is less than a supply period before the first operation.

The method may further include supplying a gas to the lower space of thesubstrate supporting apparatus during an operation of supplying acleaning gas to the upper space of the substrate supporting apparatus,wherein the gas supplied to the lower space prevents the cleaning gas inthe upper space from entering the lower space through the gap.

During the supplying of a cleaning gas to the upper space of thesubstrate supporting apparatus, a thin layer deposited on a lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus or an internal lateralsurface of the ring may be removed.

The method may be performed every time when a series of processings or aplurality of series of processings on one or more substrates arecompleted.

The method may be performed on each reactor simultaneously or atdifferent times.

According to one or more embodiments, a method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus including one or more reactors is provided, whereineach reactor includes: an upper body; a substrate supporting apparatus;and a ring surrounding the substrate supporting apparatus and arrangedbetween the substrate supporting apparatus and the upper body, whereinthe upper body and the substrate supporting apparatus form a reactionspace, wherein the method includes: moving the substrate supportingapparatus to expose a portion of a lateral surface of the substratesupporting apparatus or a portion of an internal lateral surface of thering, to a reaction space; and supplying a cleaning gas to the reactionspace.

While supplying a cleaning gas to the reaction space, an exposed portionof the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus or anexposed portion of the internal lateral surface of the ring may becleaned.

According to one or more embodiments, a substrate processing method of asubstrate processing apparatus including a plurality of reactors isprovided, wherein each reactor includes: a substrate supportingapparatus; and a ring surrounding the substrate supporting apparatus,wherein a gap is present between the substrate supporting apparatus andthe ring, wherein a surface of the ring is in contact with the substratesupporting apparatus as the substrate supporting apparatus moves and isinstalled to be movable via a pushing force of the substrate supportingapparatus, wherein the substrate processing method includes: a firstoperation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in a firstdirection by a first preset distance; a second operation of moving thesubstrate supporting apparatus in a second direction by a second presetdistance; a third operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatusin the second direction by the first preset distance; a fourth operationof moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the first direction bythe second preset distance; a fifth operation of moving the substratesupporting apparatus in a third direction by the first preset distance;a sixth operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in afourth direction by the second preset distance; a seventh operation ofmoving the substrate supporting apparatus in the fourth direction by thefirst preset distance; an eighth operation of moving the substratesupporting apparatus in the third direction by the second presetdistance; and supplying a cleaning gas to an upper portion of thesubstrate supporting apparatus, wherein the second direction is oppositeto the first direction, and the fourth direction is perpendicular to thefirst direction and the second direction and is opposite to the thirddirection.

The supplying of a cleaning gas to the upper portion of the substratesupporting apparatus may be continuously performed during the firstoperation through the eighth operation, or between the first operationand the second operation, between the third operation and the fourthoperation, between the fifth operation and the sixth operation, andbetween the seventh operation and the eighth operation.

The first preset distance may be equal to or greater than (an innerdiameter of the ring−an outer diameter of the substrate supportingapparatus)/2, wherein the second preset distance may be (an innerdiameter of the ring−an outer diameter of the substrate supportingapparatus)/2, wherein the substrate supporting apparatus is centeredrelative to the ring, and at the same time, a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus and an internal lateral surface of thering are cleaned by the substrate processing method.

According to the present disclosure, contaminants existing in blindspots in a reactor may be removed. According to the present disclosure,cleaning may be efficiently performed by vertically or horizontallymoving the substrate supporting apparatus, and also, blind spots may becleaned without additional wet cleaning and without having todisassemble the substrate processing apparatus. Thus maintenance of thesubstrate processing apparatus becomes easy. Therefore, degradation inproductivity of the substrate processing apparatus due to maintenancemay be minimized.

In addition, according to the present disclosure, deviation of centeringof the substrate supporting apparatus due to a difference in thermalexpansion between an upper portion and a lower portion of a reactor maybe corrected, and at the same time, blind spots may be cleaned. Thus,post-processing time may be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects will become apparent and more readilyappreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a substrate processing apparatusaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a substrate processing apparatus according toembodiments of the present disclosure, which includes two or morereactors;

FIG. 3 schematically shows a flow of a process gas and a filling gas ina gap between a substrate supporting apparatus and a ring;

FIG. 4 illustrates a substrate processing apparatus according toembodiments of the present disclosure, which includes two or morereactors;

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an alignment apparatus of a substrateprocessing apparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 schematically illustrates an alignment apparatus supportingmodule of a substrate processing apparatus according to embodiments ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is an expanded view of a portion of a reactor of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is an expanded view of a portion G of FIG. 7, illustrating alayer deposited between a ring and a substrate supporting apparatus;

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a modified example of the cleaning method of FIG. 9;

FIGS. 11A through 11G illustrate a process of cleaning the substrateprocessing apparatus of FIG. 1 by using the cleaning method of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates a method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus according to other embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIGS. 13A through 13G illustrate a process of cleaning the substrateprocessing apparatus of FIG. 1 by using the cleaning method of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a process of cleaning a gap between asubstrate supporting apparatus and a ring, by using a cleaning methodaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure, viewed from abovethe substrate supporting apparatus;

FIG. 15 illustrates an example where a centering location of a substratesupporting apparatus is deviated after a substrate processing process,and a thin layer is deposited on the lateral sides of the substratesupporting apparatus and the ring;

FIG. 16 schematically illustrates a substrate processing methodaccording to embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 17A through 17F schematically illustrate a method of cleaning asubstrate supporting apparatus of FIG. 15 simultaneously while centeringthe substrate supporting apparatus relative to the ring, by using thesubstrate processing method of FIG. 16.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of whichare illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencenumerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, the presentembodiments may have different forms and should not be construed asbeing limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, theembodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, toexplain aspects of the present description.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsof the present disclosure are shown. In the drawings, like elements arelabeled like reference numerals and repeated description thereof will beomitted. This present disclosure may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplaryembodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the present disclosure to those of ordinary skill inthe art.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exampleembodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” areintended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearlyindicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms“comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification,specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term“and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items.

In the present description, terms such as ‘first’, ‘second’, etc. areused to describe various members, areas, and/or portions. However, it isobvious that the members, areas, layers, and/or portions should not bedefined by these terms. The terms should not be construed as indicatingany particular order, the upper or lower position, or superiority orinferiority, and are used only for distinguishing one member, area, or aportion from another member, area, or portion. Thus, a first member,area, layer or portion which will be described may also refer to asecond member, area or portion, without departing from the teaching ofthe present disclosure.

In the drawings, for example, according to the manufacturing techniquesand/or tolerances, shapes of the illustrated elements may be modified.Thus, the present disclosure should not be construed as being limited tothe embodiments set forth herein, and should include, for example,variations in the shapes caused during manufacturing.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a cross-section of a reactor of asubstrate processing apparatus according to embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus may have adual chamber structure including a reactor in a chamber 24. A reactor inthe chamber 24 of the substrate processing apparatus may include anupper body 16. In addition, the reactor may include a substratesupporting apparatus 3 and a ring 8 surrounding the substrate supportingapparatus 3.

The reactor may be a reactor in which an atomic layer deposition (ALD)process or a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process is performed.

The upper body 16 of the reactor may include a first gas inlet portion1, a gas supplying portion 2, discharging portions 6 and 7, and the ring8. The upper body 16 and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may form areaction space 5. A chamber upper wall 17, a chamber sidewall 23, achamber lower wall 20, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may forma chamber inner space 10. A second gas inlet portion 9 may be formed ina side surface of the chamber lower wall 20.

The ring 8 may surround the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and may bearranged between the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the upper body16. The ring 8 may generally have a circular ring shape, but is notlimited thereto. For example, when the substrate supporting apparatus 3is rectangular, the ring 8 may have a rectangular ring shape. The ring 8may be fixed to the upper body 16.

According to other embodiments, the ring 8 may further include a stopperin a lower portion of the ring 8. The stopper may prevent the ring 8from moving inwards to the upper body 16. The stopper may be arrangedbetween an inner sidewall and a lower surface of the ring 8.

A gap G may be present between the ring 8 and the substrate supportingapparatus 3. An upper space of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 anda lower space of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may communicatewith each other via the gap G. That is, the reaction space 5 and thechamber inner space 10 may communicate with each other via the gap G.

The substrate supporting apparatus 3 may include a susceptor main body(not shown) supporting a substrate, and a heater heating the substratesupported by the susceptor main body. The substrate supporting apparatus3 may be connected to a driving motor 11 provided at one side of thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 and configured to be vertically movableto load or unload a substrate. In detail, during substrate processing,the substrate supporting apparatus 3 on which a substrate is mounted islifted up to thereby maintain a processible distance between the gassupplying portion 2 and a substrate. When the substrate supportingapparatus 3 is lifted, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may form thereaction space 5 with the gas supplying portion 2 and the upper body 16.When a substrate process is completed, the substrate supportingapparatus 3 may be lowered to a substrate unloading position and unloada substrate. Next, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may load a nextsubstrate, or may be lifted without loading a substrate.

An alignment apparatus 14 and a controller 15 may be further includedbetween the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the driving motor 11.

The alignment apparatus 14 and the controller 15 may be supported via anassembly supporting plate 21.

The alignment apparatus 14 may be configured to move the substratesupporting apparatus 3. For example, the alignment apparatus 14 mayalign the substrate supporting apparatus 3 within the reactor byaligning a horizontal position of the substrate supporting apparatus 3.

The controller 15 is connected to the alignment apparatus 14 and may beconfigured to control the alignment apparatus 14 to control movement ofthe substrate supporting apparatus 3.

Examples of the method of aligning the substrate supporting apparatus 3by using the alignment apparatus 14 and the controller 15 are disclosedin detail in U.S. Ser. No. 16/655,217 and U.S. Ser. No. 16/601,593.

A stretchable portion 12 may be arranged between the chamber lower wall20 and the alignment apparatus 14. The stretchable portion 12 mayconnect the chamber lower wall 20 to the alignment apparatus 14 andseparate the chamber inner space 10 from the outside.

The stretchable portion 12 may expand or contract according to movementof the substrate supporting apparatus 3. For example, the stretchableportion 12 may include a corrugated structure (for example, a bellows).In this case, when the substrate supporting apparatus 3 is lifted viathe driving motor 11, the stretchable portion 12 may contract; when thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 is lowered via the driving motor 11,the stretchable portion 12 may expand.

According to a selective embodiment, the stretchable portion 12 may beconfigured to be elastic. For example, elasticity of the stretchableportion 12 may be adjusted such that the stretchable portion 12 expandsor contracts in response to vertical movement of the substratesupporting apparatus 3, and accordingly, shielding between the chamberlower wall 20 and the alignment apparatus 14 from the outside may bemaintained.

A process gas that has entered through the first gas inlet portion 1 maybe supplied to the reaction space 5 and the substrate via the gassupplying portion 2. The gas supplying portion 2 may be a shower head,and a base of the showerhead may include a plurality of gas supply holesformed to eject a process gas (for example, vertically). The process gassupplied onto the substrate may undergo a chemical reaction with thesubstrate or another gas to deposit a thin layer on the substrate oretch a thin layer.

In a plasma process, a radio frequency (RF) power source may beelectrically connected to the gas supplying portion 2 that functions asone electrode. In detail, an RF rod 4 connected to the RF power sourcemay be connected to the gas supplying portion 2. In this case, upper RFpower is supplied to the gas supplying portion 2 via an RF generator, anRF matcher, and the RF rod 4, and as a reaction gas that has entered thereaction space 5 through the first gas inlet portion 1 is activated,plasma may be generated.

In the reaction space 5, a residual gas or unreacted gas remaining afterchemical reaction with the substrate may be discharged to the outsidevia a gap between a discharge duct 6 and the ring 8 and a dischargespace 7 in the discharge duct 6. The discharging method may be upwarddischarging, downward discharging or sideward discharging. Descriptionof an additional discharging structure connecting a reactor and thechamber 24 will be omitted.

While a substrate processing apparatus including one reactor isillustrated in FIG. 1, an object of the cleaning method and thesubstrate processing method according to the present disclosure is notlimited to one reactor that processes one substrate. In someembodiments, a substrate processing method may be used in a batchreactor (that is, a plurality of reactors) that processes a plurality ofsubstrates each time, that is, a batch of substrates. A substrateprocessing apparatus including a plurality of reactors is illustrated inFIG. 2. In a chamber including a plurality of reactors, reactors in thechamber may share the lower space of the substrate supporting apparatus3.

While each reactor including the controller 15 individually isillustrated in FIG. 2, according to another embodiment, each reactor mayshare one controller. That is, one controller may control movement ofsubstrate supporting apparatuses of all reactors.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a flow of a process gas (or cleaninggas) and a filling gas in the gap G between the substrate supportingapparatus 3 and the ring 8.

Referring to FIG. 3, a process gas that has entered through the firstgas inlet portion 1 may be supplied to the reaction space 5 and asubstrate via the gas supplying portion 2.

In addition, a filling gas may enter the chamber inner space 10 throughthe second gas inlet portion 9. The filling gas may be, for example, aninert gas such as nitrogen or argon. Alternatively, in order to preventgeneration of parasitic plasma in the lower space 10 when plasma isgenerated in the reaction space 5, a gas having a lower discharge ratethan that of the gas supplied to the reaction space 5 may be supplied tothe lower space 10 through the second gas inlet portion 9. The fillinggas may form a gas curtain in the gap G between the substrate supportingapparatus 3 and the ring 8 to thereby prevent a corrosive reaction gas(or cleaning gas) in the reaction space 5 from entering the chamberinner space 10 through the gap G. Accordingly, devices mounted under thechamber 24 such as the driving motor 11 connected to the chamber innerspace 10, the alignment apparatus 14, or the like, may be protected fromthe corrosive reaction gas.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the ring 8 may be arranged between the upperbody 16 and the substrate supporting apparatus 3. For example, the ring8 may be a gas flow control ring (FCR). The ring 8 may control apressure balance between the reaction space 5 and the chamber innerspace 10 by adjusting a width of a gap between the upper body 16 and thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3.

FIG. 4 illustrates a substrate processing apparatus according toembodiments of the present disclosure, which includes two or morereactors.

In FIG. 4, the substrate processing apparatus may include the alignmentapparatus 14 and the alignment apparatus supporting module 16 at thelower end of the substrate supporting apparatus 3. An example of thealignment apparatus 14 is schematically illustrated in FIG. 5. Thealignment apparatus 14 may be used to perform centering of the substratesupporting apparatus 3 with respect to a ring and/or cleaning of thering 8 and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 by using an X-Y stage.For example, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be centered and/orcleaned by moving the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in a +X, −X, +Y,or −Y direction. In addition, the alignment apparatus 14 may beconnected to the controller (15 in FIG. 1) and may automatically alignthe substrate supporting apparatus 3 according to a command from thecontroller (15 in FIG. 1). According to a modified example, thealignment apparatus 14 may manually align the substrate supportingapparatus 3.

In FIG. 4, the substrate processing apparatus may further include thealignment apparatus supporting module 16 below the alignment apparatus14. The alignment apparatus supporting module 16 is schematicallyillustrated in FIG. 6. The alignment apparatus supporting module 16 mayinclude the driving motor (11 in FIG. 1) that vertically moves thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3.

FIG. 5 schematically illustrates an example of the alignment apparatus14 of the substrate processing apparatus according to embodiments of thepresent disclosure. The alignment apparatus 14 may include an insertionportion HH into which the substrate supporting apparatus (3 in FIG. 1)may be inserted. The substrate supporting apparatus (3 in FIG. 1) may beinserted into the insertion portion HH of the alignment apparatus 14 tobe fixed. The alignment apparatus 14 may further include a stretchableportion insertion portion BB in which the stretchable portion (12 inFIG. 1) may be mounted. In addition, the alignment apparatus 14 mayfurther include a cooler 2700. The cooler 2700 may prevent heating ofthe alignment apparatus 14 due to the heated substrate supportingapparatus when the substrate supporting apparatus is inserted into thealignment apparatus 14, and thus may prevent heating of elements such asan x-axis motor Mx, a y-axis motor My or the like in the alignmentapparatus 14. The alignment apparatus 14 may further include a stage500. The stage 500 may be horizontally moved in an x-axis or a y-axisvia the x-axis motor Mx and the y-axis motor My.

FIG. 7 is an expanded view of a portion of a reactor of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates the substrate supporting apparatus that is lowered tounload a substrate after a series or a plurality of series ofprocessings on one or more substrates are completed, and then is liftedto a substrate processing position again. In the present embodiment, adistance H between the gas supplying portion 2 and the substratesupporting apparatus 3 (that is, a reaction space gap) is 12 mm, whichmay be equal to a reaction space height during a substrate processingprocess.

As described above, during a substrate processing process, reactiongases including a source gas are supplied to the reaction space 5 viathe gas supplying portion 2, and then may be discharged to the dischargespace 7 through a gap formed between the reaction space 5 and thedischarge duct 6. However, a gap distance 701 between the substratesupporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8 is narrow, and thus, correspondsto a blind spot where discharging is difficult. Accordingly, reactiongases permeated between the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and thering 8 during a substrate processing process are not discharged butreact with each other, and thus may deposit a thin film layer on lateralsurfaces of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8. Filmlayers deposited on the lateral surfaces of the substrate supportingapparatus 3 and the ring 8 may wear off as they come into friction witheach other due to frequent lifting up and lowering of the substratesupporting apparatus 3, and may act as a contaminant in the reactionspace.

FIG. 8 is an expanded view of a portion G of FIG. 7 (a gap between thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8). FIG. 8 illustrates anexample of a layer 25 deposited in a blind spot between the ring 8 andthe substrate supporting apparatus 3 during a substrate processingprocess. In detail, the layer 25 deposited on a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 and an internal lateral surface of thering 8 is illustrated.

As described above, during a substrate processing process, a filling gasis supplied into the chamber inner space 10 via the second gas supplyportion (9 in FIG. 1), and as the filling gas is forming a gas curtainin the gap G between the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring8, the reaction gas in the reaction space 5 may penetrate into only anupper portion of the gap G, and not into a lower portion of the gap G.Accordingly, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the layer 25 may be depositedonly on an upper area of the lateral surface of the substrate supportingapparatus 3 and on an upper area of the internal lateral surface of thering 8, and no layer is deposited on a lower area of the lateral surfaceof the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and a lower area of the internalsurface of the ring 8.

In general, to remove a contaminant in the blind spot as above, areactor is disassembled and additional wet cleaning is performed on eachcomponent part. However, the cleaning method described above requirestime to restore the substrate processing apparatus, and thus, a downtime of the apparatus is too long, and accordingly, efficientmaintenance is difficult.

Accordingly, the present disclosure provides a method of removing a thinlayer deposited on a blind spot (in detail, the upper area of thelateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the upperarea of the internal lateral surface of the ring 8) without having todisassemble the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 schematically illustrates a method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, before performing a method of cleaning thesubstrate processing apparatus, a series of processings or a pluralityof series of processings on one or more substrates may be performed(operation S00). Next, an operation of unloading a substrate as thesubstrate supporting apparatus (3 in FIG. 1) is lowered may be performed(S01). After unloading a substrate, the substrate supporting apparatus(3 in FIG. 1) may be lifted again to form a reaction space with respectto the upper body.

Next, the method of cleaning a substrate processing apparatus accordingto the embodiments may include moving the substrate supporting apparatusrelative to the ring, and supplying a cleaning gas to an upper space (5in FIG. 1) of the substrate supporting apparatus 3. By performing theseoperations, a thin layer deposited on a blind spot (in detail, a lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus and an internal lateralsurface of the ring) may be removed.

In detail, a first operation (S901) of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in a first direction by a first preset distance may beperformed.

In an embodiment, the first direction may be a thickness direction ofthe substrate supporting apparatus (that is, a direction perpendicularto a ground surface). According to a selective embodiment, the firstdirection may be a z-axis direction. For example, the substratesupporting apparatus may be moved relative to the ring in the z-axisdirection. In this case, the first preset distance may be equal to orless than a thickness of the substrate supporting apparatus. This willbe described later with reference to FIGS. 11A and 11B.

In another embodiment, the first direction may be a radius direction ofthe substrate supporting apparatus (that is, a direction parallel to aground surface). According to a selective embodiment, the firstdirection may be a −x-axis direction. For example, the substratesupporting apparatus may be moved relative to the ring in the −x-axisdirection. In this case, the first preset distance may be equal to orgreater than (an inner diameter of the ring−an outer diameter of thesubstrate supporting apparatus)/2. This will be described later withreference to FIGS. 13A and 13B. In an embodiment, a length of the innerdiameter of the ring and a length of the outer diameter of the substratesupporting apparatus may be input to the controller (15 in FIG. 1)before the first operation (S901) of FIG. 9. The controller (15 inFIG. 1) may calculate a distance that the substrate supporting apparatushas moved, by using the input length of the inner diameter of the ringand the input length of the outer diameter of the substrate supportingapparatus.

By moving the substrate supporting apparatus, a portion of the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus or a portion of theinternal lateral surface of the ring may be exposed to a reaction space.By supplying a cleaning gas to the reaction space, an exposed portion ofthe lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus or an exposedportion of the internal lateral surface of the ring may be cleaned. Thiswill be described later with reference to FIGS. 11B, 11C, 13B, and 13C.

Next, a second operation (S903) of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in a second direction by a first preset distance may beperformed.

The second direction may be an opposite direction to the firstdirection. For example, when the first direction is a z-axis direction,the second direction may be a −z-axis direction. In addition, when thefirst direction is a −x-axis direction, the second direction may be anx-axis direction. As operation S903 is performed, the substratesupporting apparatus may return to a position before operation S901 isperformed.

Next, a third operation (S905) of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in the second direction by a second preset distance may beperformed.

When the second direction is a −z-axis direction, the second presetdistance may be equal to or less than a thickness of the ring. This willbe described later with reference to FIGS. 11D and 11E.

When the second direction is an x-axis direction, the second presetdistance may be equal to or greater than (the inner diameter of thering−the outer diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2. Thiswill be described later with reference to FIGS. 13A and 13B.

By moving the substrate supporting apparatus, a portion of a lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus or a portion of theinternal lateral surface of the ring may be exposed to a reaction space.By supplying a cleaning gas to the reaction space, an exposed portion ofthe lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus or an exposedportion of the internal lateral surface of the ring may be cleaned. Thiswill be described later with reference to FIGS. 11E, 11F, 13E, and 13F.

Next, a fourth operation (S907) of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in the first direction by a second preset distance may beperformed.

As operation S907 is performed, the substrate supporting apparatus mayreturn to a position before the cleaning method is performed.

According to the method of cleaning the substrate processing apparatusof the present embodiment, a cleaning gas may be continuously supplied(S900) to an upper space (5 of FIG. 1)) of the substrate supportingapparatus during the first operation (S901) through the fourth operation(S907). In this case, in the method of cleaning a substrate processingapparatus, cleaning of a reactor and cleaning of blind spots in thereactor may be simultaneously performed.

However, as illustrated in FIG. 10, according to another embodiment, thecleaning gas may be supplied (S901 a) between the first operation (S901)and the second operation (S903), and supplied (S905 a) between the thirdoperation (S905) and the fourth operation (S907). In addition, thecleaning gas may be further supplied (S01 a) before the first operation(S901). In this case, in the method of cleaning a substrate processingapparatus, cleaning of a reactor may be performed first, and thencleaning of blind spots may be performed subsequently. According to anembodiment, a supplying period of operations of supplying a cleaning gas(S901 a and S905 a) between the first operation (S901) and the secondoperation (S903) and between the third operation (S905) and the fourthoperation (S907) may be shorter than a supplying period of operation(S01 a) of supplying a cleaning gas before the first operation (S901).For example, a supplying period of a cleaning gas before the firstoperation (S901) may be about six minutes, and a supplying periodbetween the first operation (S901) and the second operation (S903) andbetween the third operation (S905) and the fourth operation (S907) maybe about two minutes.

The cleaning method of FIGS. 9 and 10 may be performed periodically. Forexample, the period may be several hours, days, weeks, months or years.According to another embodiment, the cleaning method may be performedevery time when a series of processings or a plurality of series ofprocessings on one or more substrates are completed.

An object to which the method of cleaning the substrate processingapparatus is applied is not limited to one reactor processing onesubstrate. In some embodiments, a cleaning method may be used in a batchreactor (for example, the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 2) thatprocesses a plurality of substrates each time, that is, a batch ofsubstrates. In this case, the cleaning method may be performed on eachreactor simultaneously or at different times.

FIGS. 11A through 11E illustrate a process of cleaning the substrateprocessing apparatus of FIG. 1 by using the cleaning method of FIG. 10.For convenience of description, according to the present embodiment, thefirst direction may be a thickness direction of the substrate supportingapparatus (a z-axis direction in the drawings), and the second directionis set as a −z-axis direction.

FIG. 11A illustrates the substrate supporting apparatus that is loweredto unload a substrate (operation S01 of FIG. 10) after a series ofprocessings or a plurality of series of processings on one or moresubstrates are completed (operation S00 of FIG. 10), and then is liftedto a substrate processing position again. In the present embodiment, adistance H between the gas supplying portion 2 and the substratesupporting apparatus 3 (that is, a reaction space gap) is 12 mm, whichmay be equal to a reaction space height during a substrate processingprocess. A thin layer deposited during a substrate processing processexists on a lateral surface of the substrate processing apparatus and aninternal lateral surface of the ring.

According to operation S01 a of FIG. 10, a cleaning gas (for example,NF₃) may be supplied to the reaction space 5 via the gas supplyingportion 2, and the reactor may be dry-cleaned accordingly. Operation S01a may be performed during a first period. For example, the first periodmay be about six minutes.

Next, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11B, operation S901 of FIG. 10 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thefirst direction (z-axis direction) by the first preset distance. Thedriving motor 11 (FIG. 1) that moves the substrate supporting apparatus3 vertically may be used to lift the substrate supporting apparatus 3.In order that a lower portion of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 isnot exposed to the reaction space 5, the first preset distance may beequal to or less than a thickness of the substrate supporting apparatus3. In an embodiment, the first preset distance may be 7 mm, and adistance H′ between the gas supplying portion 2 and the substratesupporting apparatus 3 may be 12 mm−7 mm=5 mm. That is, a distancebetween the gas supplying portion 2 and the substrate supportingapparatus 3 is less than the distance during a substrate processingprocess.

As illustrated in FIG. 11B, as the substrate supporting apparatus 3 islifted via operation S901 of FIG. 10, a portion SH of the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 is exposed to thereaction space 5.

Next, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11C, operation S901 a of FIG. 10 isperformed, and a cleaning gas may be supplied to the reaction space 5.Here, the lateral surface SH of the substrate supporting apparatus 3exposed to the reaction space 5 may be cleaned. That is, a thin layerdeposited on the lateral surface SH of the substrate supportingapparatus 3 may be removed. Operation S901 a may be performed during asecond period. For example, the second period may be about two minutes.

In order to prevent a cleaning gas in the reaction space 5 from enteringthe chamber inner space 10 through the gap G, the cleaning method mayfurther include supplying a gas to the lower space 10 of the substratesupporting apparatus 3 during operation (S901 a) of supplying a cleaninggas to the upper space 5 of the substrate supporting apparatus 3.According to the present embodiment, a filling gas may be supplied tothe lower space 10 through the second gas inlet portion 9 (FIG. 1). Thefilling gas may form a gas curtain in the gap G between the substratesupporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8, thereby preventing a cleaning gasfrom entering the chamber inner space 10 through the gap G. The fillinggas may be, for example, an inert gas such as N₂ or Ar.

Next, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11D, operation S903 of FIG. 10 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thesecond direction (−z-axis direction) by the first preset distance. Asoperation S903 is performed, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 mayreturn to a position before operation S901 is performed. Thus, adistance H between the gas supplying portion 2 and the substratesupporting apparatus 3 is 12 mm.

Next, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11E, operation S905 of FIG. 10 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thesecond direction (−z-axis direction) by the second preset distance. Thedriving motor 11 (FIG. 1) that moves the substrate supporting apparatus3 vertically may be used to lower the substrate supporting apparatus 3.In order that a lower portion of the ring 8 is not exposed to thereaction space 5, the second preset distance may be equal to or lessthan a thickness of the ring 8. In an embodiment, the second presetdistance may be 7 mm, and a distance H″ between the gas supplyingportion 2 and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be 12 mm+7 mm=19mm. That is, a distance between the gas supplying portion 2 and thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 became wider than at the time of asubstrate processing process.

As illustrated in FIG. 11E, as the substrate supporting apparatus 3 islowered via operation S905 of FIG. 10, a portion SF of the internallateral surface of the ring 8 is exposed to the reaction space 5.

Next, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11F, operation S905 a of FIG. 10 isperformed, and a cleaning gas may be supplied to the reaction space 5.Here, the portion of the internal lateral surface SF of the ring 8exposed to the reaction space 5 may be cleaned. That is, a thin layerdeposited on the internal lateral surface SF of the ring 8 may beremoved. Operation S905 a may be performed during a third period. Forexample, the third period may be about two minutes.

As described above, in order to prevent a cleaning gas in the reactionspace 5 from entering the chamber inner space 10 through the gap G, thecleaning method may further include supplying a gas to the lower space10 of the substrate supporting apparatus during operation (S905 a) ofsupplying a cleaning gas to the upper space 5 of the substratesupporting apparatus. According to the present embodiment, a filling gasmay be supplied to the lower space 10 through the second gas inletportion (9 in FIG. 1).

Next, referring to FIGS. 10 and 11G, operation S907 of FIG. 10 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thefirst direction (z-axis direction) by the second preset distance. Asoperation S907 is performed, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 mayreturn to a position before operation S901 is performed. Thus, adistance H between the gas supplying portion 2 and the substratesupporting apparatus 3 is 12 mm.

As described above, simply by lifting and lowering the substratesupporting apparatus 3, a thin layer deposited on an upper portion ofthe lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and an upperportion of the internal lateral surface of the ring 8 may be removed. Asdescribed above, according to the present disclosure, withoutdisassembling the substrate processing apparatus, contaminants in theblind spots may be removed.

Next, a method of cleaning a lateral surface of the substrate supportingapparatus and an internal lateral surface of the ring via horizontalmovement of the substrate processing apparatus, instead of by verticallylifting or lowering the substrate processing apparatus, will bedescribed.

FIG. 12 schematically illustrates a method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus according to other embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

Operations S00 through S907 of the method of cleaning a substrateprocessing apparatus of FIG. 12 are respectively identical to operationsS00 through S907 of the method of cleaning a substrate processingapparatus of FIG. 10. Hereinafter, repeated description among theembodiments will be omitted.

The method of cleaning a substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 12 mayfurther include a fifth operation (S909) of moving the substratesupporting apparatus in a third direction by a third preset distance.

The third direction may be a radius direction of the substratesupporting apparatus. That is, the third direction may be a directionthat is horizontal to a ground surface. In addition, the third directionmay be perpendicular to a first direction and a second direction.According to a selective embodiment, the third direction may be a y-axisdirection. For example, the substrate supporting apparatus may be movedin the y-axis direction.

In this case, the third preset distance may be equal to or greater than(an inner diameter of the ring−an outer diameter of the substratesupporting apparatus)/2.

By moving the substrate supporting apparatus, a portion of a lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus or a portion of aninternal lateral surface of the ring may be exposed to a reaction spacein a horizontal direction.

Next, a cleaning gas may be supplied to clean an exposed portion of thelateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus or an exposedportion of the internal lateral surface of the ring (S909 a).

Next, a sixth operation (S911) of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in a fourth direction by the third preset distance may beperformed.

The fourth direction may be an opposite direction to the thirddirection. For example, when the third direction is a y-axis direction,the fourth direction may be a −y-axis direction. In addition, the fourthdirection may be perpendicular to the first direction and the seconddirection. As operation S911 is performed, the substrate supportingapparatus may return to a position before operation S901 is performed.

Next, a seventh operation (S913) of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in the fourth direction by a fourth preset distance may beperformed.

When the fourth direction is a −y-axis direction, the fourth presetdistance may be equal to or greater than (an inner diameter of thering−an outer diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2.

By moving the substrate supporting apparatus, a portion of the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus or a portion of theinternal lateral surface of the ring may be exposed to a reaction space.

Next, a cleaning gas may be supplied to clean an exposed portion of thelateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus or an exposedportion of the internal lateral surface of the ring (S913 a).

Next, a fourth operation (S915) of moving the substrate supportingapparatus in the third direction by the fourth preset distance may beperformed.

As operation S915 is performed, the substrate supporting apparatus mayreturn to a position before the cleaning method is performed.

According to the method of cleaning a substrate processing apparatus ofthe present embodiment, a cleaning gas may be supplied between the firstoperation (S901) and the second operation (S903), and between the thirdoperation (S905) and the fourth operation (S907), between the fifthoperation (S909) and the sixth operation (S911), and between the seventhoperation (S913) and the eighth operation (S915). In addition, thecleaning gas may be further supplied (S01 a) before the first operation(S901).

However, according to another embodiment, a cleaning gas may becontinuously supplied to the upper space (5 in FIG. 1) of the substratesupporting apparatus during the first operation (S901) through theeighth operation (S915). In this case, in the method of cleaning asubstrate processing apparatus, cleaning of a reactor and cleaning ofblind spots in the reactor may be simultaneously performed.

The cleaning method of FIG. 12 may be performed periodically. Forexample, the period may be several hours, days, weeks, months or years.According to another embodiment, the cleaning method may be performedevery time when a series of processings or a plurality of series ofprocessings on one or more substrates are completed.

An object to which the method of cleaning the substrate processingapparatus is applied is not limited to one reactor processing onesubstrate. In some embodiments, the cleaning method may be used in abatch reactor (for example, the substrate processing apparatus of FIG.2) that processes a plurality of substrates each time, that is, a batchof substrates. In this case, the cleaning method may be performed oneach reactor simultaneously or at different times.

In addition, when the first through fourth preset distances are (aninner diameter of the ring−an outer diameter of the substrate supportingapparatus)/2, as will be described with reference to FIGS. 15 through17, centering (e.g. alignment) of the substrate supporting apparatus andcleaning of the blind spots may be performed simultaneously.

FIGS. 13A through 13G illustrate a process of cleaning the substrateprocessing apparatus of FIG. 1 by using the cleaning method of FIG. 10.

For convenience of description, hereinafter, it will be assumed that thefirst direction is a −x-axis direction (a direction to the left in thedrawing), the second direction is an x-axis direction (a direction tothe right in the drawing), the third direction is a y-axis direction (adirection passing through into the drawing), and the fourth direction isa −y-axis direction (a direction passing through and coming out from thedrawing), and the first preset distance and the second preset distanceare (inner diameter D of the ring−outer diameter C of the substratesupporting apparatus)/2.

First, FIG. 13A illustrates the substrate supporting apparatus that islowered to unload a substrate (operation S01 of FIG. 12) after a seriesof processings or a plurality of series of processings on one or moresubstrates are completed (operation S00 of FIG. 12), and then is liftedto a substrate processing position again. In the present embodiment, adistance H between the gas supplying portion 2 and the substratesupporting apparatus 3 (that is, a reaction space gap) is 12 mm, whichmay be equal to a reaction space height during a substrate processingprocess. A thin layer deposited during a substrate processing processexists on a lateral surface of the substrate processing apparatus and aninternal lateral surface of the ring.

According to operation S01 a of FIG. 12, a cleaning gas (for example,NF₃) may be supplied to the reactor via the gas supplying portion 2, andthe reactor may be dry-cleaned accordingly. Operation S01 a may beperformed during a first period. For example, the first period may beabout six minutes.

Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13B, operation S901 of FIG. 12 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thefirst direction (−x-axis direction) by the first preset distance. Tomove the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in the −x-axis direction, thealignment apparatus (14 in FIG. 1) and the controller (15 in FIG. 1)that move the substrate supporting apparatus in a x-y-axis direction maybe used. In order to maximize a distance between a lateral surface ofthe substrate supporting apparatus in an x-axis direction and the ring8, the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus in a−x-axis direction and the ring 8 may be brought into contact with eachother. Thus, in order to bring the substrate supporting apparatus 3 andthe ring 8 into contact with each other, the first preset distance maybe equal to or greater than (the inner diameter D of the ring−the outerdiameter C of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2. According to thepresent embodiment, the first preset distance may be (inner diameter ofthe ring−the outer diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2.

As illustrated in FIG. 13B, as the substrate supporting apparatus 3 ismoved in a −x-axis direction via operation S901 of FIG. 12, a lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in the x-axis directionand an internal lateral surface of the ring 8 facing the lateral surfaceof the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be exposed to the reactionspace 5. That is, a layer 25 b may be exposed in the reaction space 5.

Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13C, operation S901 a of FIG. 12 isperformed, and a cleaning gas may be supplied to the reaction space 5.Here, the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus and theinternal lateral surface of the ring 8 that are exposed to the reactionspace 5 may be cleaned. That is, the layer 25 b deposited on the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus and the internal lateralsurface of the ring may be removed (250 b). Operation S901 a may beperformed during a second period. For example, the second period may beabout two minutes.

In order to prevent a cleaning gas in the reaction space 5 from enteringthe chamber inner space 10 through the gap G, the cleaning method mayfurther include supplying a gas to the lower space 10 of the substratesupporting apparatus 3 during operation S901 a of supplying a cleaninggas to the upper space 5 of the substrate supporting apparatus.According to the present embodiment, a filling gas may be supplied tothe lower space 10 through the second gas inlet portion (9 in FIG. 1).The filling gas may form a gas curtain in the gap G between thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8, thereby preventing acleaning gas from entering the chamber inner space 10 through the gap G.The filling gas may be, for example, an inert gas such as N₂ or Ar.

Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13D, operation S903 of FIG. 12 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thesecond direction (x-axis direction) by the first preset distance. Asoperation S903 is performed, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 mayreturn to a position before operation S901 is performed.

Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13E, operation S905 of FIG. 12 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thesecond direction (x-axis direction) by the second preset distance. Tomove the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in the x-axis direction, thealignment apparatus 14 (FIG. 1) and the controller 15 (FIG. 1) that movethe substrate supporting apparatus 3 in a x-y-axis direction may beused. In order to maximize a distance between a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 in an −x-axis direction and the ring 8,the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in an x-axisdirection and the ring 8 is to be brought into contact with each other.Thus, in order to bring the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and thering 8 into contact with each other, the second preset distance may beequal to or greater than (the inner diameter D of the ring−the outerdiameter C of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2. According to thepresent embodiment, the second preset distance may be (the innerdiameter D of the ring−the outer diameter C of the substrate supportingapparatus)/2.

As illustrated in FIG. 13E, as the substrate supporting apparatus 3 ismoved in the x-axis direction via operation S905 of FIG. 12, a lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in the −x-axis directionand an internal lateral surface of the ring 8 facing the lateral surfaceof the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be exposed to the reactionspace 5. That is, a thin layer 25 a may be exposed in the reaction space(5 in FIG. 1).

Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13F, operation S905 a of FIG. 12 isperformed, and a cleaning gas may be supplied to the reaction space 5.Here, the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus and theinternal lateral surface of the ring that are exposed to the reactionspace 5 may be cleaned. That is, the layer 25 a deposited on the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus and the internal lateralsurface of the ring may be removed (250 a). Operation S905 a may beperformed during a third period. For example, the third period may beabout two minutes.

As described above, in order to prevent a cleaning gas in the reactionspace 5 from entering the chamber inner space 10 through the gap G, thecleaning method may further include supplying a gas to the lower space10 of the substrate supporting apparatus during operation (S905 a) ofsupplying a cleaning gas to the upper space 5 of the substratesupporting apparatus. According to the present embodiment, a filling gasmay be supplied to the lower space 10 through the second gas inletportion (9 in FIG. 1).

Next, referring to FIGS. 12 and 13G, operation S907 of FIG. 12 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thefirst direction (−x-axis direction) by the second preset distance. Asoperation S907 is performed, the substrate supporting apparatus mayreturn to a position before operation S901 is performed.

FIGS. 13A through 13G illustrate a process of cleaning the substratesupporting apparatus 3 by moving the substrate supporting apparatus 3 onan x-axis by performing operation S901 through operation S907 of FIG.12. Similarly, by performing operation S909 through S915 of FIG. 12 on ay-axis and a −y-axis, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may becleaned as the substrate supporting apparatus 3 is moved on the y-axisand a −y-axis.

FIG. 14 illustrates a process of cleaning a gap between the substratesupporting apparatus and the ring by using the cleaning method of FIG.12 viewed from above the substrate supporting apparatus.

In the present embodiment, the first direction is a −x-axis direction (adirection to the left in the drawing), the second direction is an x-axisdirection (a direction to the right in the drawing), the third directionis a y-axis direction (an upward direction in the drawing), and thefourth direction is a −y-axis direction (a downward direction in thedrawing), and the first preset distance through the fourth presetdistance are (inner diameter D of the ring−outer diameter C of thesubstrate supporting apparatus)/2.

(a) and (b) of FIG. 14 illustrate a process of cleaning a thin layerdeposited on a lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus andan internal lateral surface of the ring by moving the substratesupporting apparatus on an −x-axis and an x-axis by performingoperations S901 through S907 of FIG. 12. Next, (c) and (d) of FIG. 14illustrate a process of cleaning a thin layer deposited on a lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus and an internal lateralsurface of the ring by moving the substrate supporting apparatus on ay-axis and a −y-axis by performing operations S909 through S915 of FIG.12. By doing these, the lateral surface of the substrate supportingapparatus and the internal lateral surface of the ring may be cleanedcompletely.

In detail, according to operation S901 of FIG. 12, the alignmentapparatus may move the substrate supporting apparatus to the left,bringing the substrate supporting apparatus to a lateral surface of thering ((a) of FIG. 14). As a result, a distance dA between the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus in the x-axis directionand the ring is increased. Due to the increased distance, a cleaning gassupplied to the reaction gas during operation S901 a may easily enter anarea X_(A), thereby cleaning contaminants remaining in the area X_(A) (asolid line of (a) of FIG. 14).

Next, according to operation S903 and operation S905 of FIG. 12, thealignment apparatus may move the substrate supporting apparatus to theright, bringing the substrate supporting apparatus to a lateral surfaceof the ring ((b) of FIG. 14). As a result, a distance d_(B) between alateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus in the −x-axisdirection and the ring is increased. Due to the increased distance, acleaning gas supplied to the reaction space during operation S905 a mayeasily enter an area X_(B), thereby cleaning contaminants remaining inthe area X_(B) (a solid line of (b) of FIG. 14).

Next, according to operation S907 and operation S909 of FIG. 12, thealignment apparatus may move the substrate supporting apparatus in ay-axis direction, bringing the substrate supporting apparatus intocontact with a surface of the ring ((c) of FIG. 14). As a result, adistance d_(C) between a lateral surface of the substrate supportingapparatus in the −y-axis direction and the ring is increased. Due to theincreased distance, a cleaning gas supplied to the reaction space duringoperation S909 a may easily enter an area X_(C), thereby cleaningcontaminants remaining in the area X_(C) (a solid line of (c) of FIG.14).

Finally, according to operation S911 and operation S913 of FIG. 12, thealignment apparatus may move the substrate supporting apparatus in a−y-axis direction, bringing the substrate supporting apparatus intocontact with a surface of the ring ((d) of FIG. 14). As a result, adistance d_(D) between a lateral surface of the substrate supportingapparatus in the y-axis direction and the ring is increased. Due to theincreased distance, a cleaning gas supplied to the reaction space duringoperation S913 a may easily enter an area X_(D), thereby cleaningcontaminants remaining in the area X_(D) (a solid line of (d) of FIG.14).

As described above, simply by moving the substrate supporting apparatuson an xy-axis, a thin layer deposited on an upper portion of the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and an upper portion ofthe internal lateral surface of the ring 8 may be removed. As describedabove, according to the present disclosure, without disassembling thesubstrate processing apparatus, contaminants in the blind spots may beremoved.

FIG. 15 schematically illustrates a substrate processing apparatusaccording to other embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the ring 8 may be arranged between the upperbody 16 and the substrate supporting apparatus 3. For example, the ring8 may be a gas flow control ring (FCR). The ring 8 may control apressure balance between the reaction space 5 and the chamber innerspace 10 by adjusting a width of a gap between the upper body 16 and thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3.

However, unlike the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1, the ring 8illustrated in FIG. 15 may be mounted on the upper body 16 to be slid orfloated relative to the upper body 16. For example, when a pushing forceis applied to the ring 8, the ring 8 may be moved in a direction of aforce applied onto the upper body 16 by that pushing force.

In detail, a step portion S facing the reaction space may be included ina lower inner portion of the upper body 16. In this case, the ring 8 maybe mounted on an inner portion of the step portion S. When the ring 8 ismounted on the step portion S of the upper body 16, a wall of the stepportion S and an outer wall of the ring 8 may be spaced apart by acertain distance (e). According to another embodiment, the step portionS may further include a pad P, and the ring 8 may be mounted on the padP such that the ring 8 is slidable relative to the pad P. The ring 8 maybe installed in the step portion S and be movable horizontally via apushing force of the substrate supporting apparatus 3. For example, aswill be described later, a surface of the ring 8 may be in contact withthe substrate supporting apparatus 3 via movement of the substratesupporting apparatus 3, and may move in a movement direction of thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 while maintaining a contact state withthe substrate supporting apparatus 3.

According to another embodiment, the ring 8 may be fixed with respect tothe upper body 16.

As described above, by adjusting a width of a gap between the upper body16 and the substrate supporting apparatus 3, that is, by adjusting awidth of the gap between the ring 8 and the substrate supportingapparatus 3, the ring 8 may be used to control a width of a filling gasand a process gas around the gap, and accordingly, a pressure of thefilling gas and the process gas may be controlled.

However, in a high temperature process, due to a difference in thermalexpansion caused by a temperature difference in portions of the chamberand the reactor, mismatch, that is, misalignment of the portions of thereactor occurs. For example, in a high-temperature process, due to adifference in thermal expansion of an upper wall and a lower wall of achamber, and a difference in thermal expansion in upper and lowerportions of the reactor, misalignment in components of the reactoroccurs, and accordingly, a centering position of the substratesupporting apparatus 3 relative to the ring 8 may be deviated (U.S. Ser.No. 16/655,217 and U.S. Ser. No. 16/601,593). That is, a gap width maynot be uniform over an entire section. When a gap between the substratesupporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8 is not uniform (A1≠B1), a pressurebalance of a filling gas and a reaction gas in a gap area surroundingedge portions of the substrate supporting apparatus may vary accordingto a position of the gap. In this case, a gas flow around the substratemay not be uniform during deposition and discharging, and thus, auniformity of a thin film on the substrate, particularly, thin filmuniformity in an edge portion of the substrate, may not be uniform ormay be deteriorated. Accordingly, a failure rate of a semiconductordevice may be increased, and process reproducibility and reliabilityamong reactors may be degraded.

Thus, a method of correcting movement of a center of the substratesupporting apparatus according to use of the substrate processingapparatus at a high temperature and maintaining a uniform width of a gapbetween the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8 is needed.Examples of the centering method of the substrate supporting apparatus 3are disclosed in detail in U.S. Ser. No. 16/655,217 and U.S. Ser. No.16/601,593.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example in which the substrate supportingapparatus 3 is deviated relative to the ring 8 after a substrateprocessing process (here, A1<(D−C)/2<B1).

In the present embodiment, a length of the pad P is g, and a thicknessof the ring 8 in a radius direction is f. Preferably, when the ring 8 ismoved, in order for the ring 8 to be completely mounted on the pad P,the length g of the pad P is greater than or equal to the thickness f ofthe ring 8 in the radius direction. A distance from an outer wall of thering 8 to the step portion S is (e), and may vary according to movementof the ring 8.

A length of an inner diameter of the ring 8 is D, and a length of anouter diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 is C. The lengthD of the inner diameter of the ring 8 and the length C of the outerdiameter of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 are constants. Thelength D of the inner diameter of the ring 8 and the length C of theouter diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be input tothe controller 15 before operation S1601 of FIG. 16. The controller 15may calculate a distance the substrate supporting apparatus 3 has moved,by using the input length D of the inner diameter of the ring 8 and theinput length C of the outer diameter of the substrate supportingapparatus 3. As described above, according to the present disclosure,without installing an additional instrument for measuring a distancebetween the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8, a centeringoperation of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be performed justbased on the length D of the inner diameter of the ring 8 and the lengthC of the outer diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus 3.

In addition, FIG. 15 illustrates an example in which a thin layer isdeposited between the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8.

As described above, a gap distance between the substrate supportingapparatus 3 and the ring 8 is narrow, and thus, corresponds to a blindspot where discharging is difficult. In FIG. 15, a thin layer 25 a isdeposited on a lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3in an −x-axis direction and on an upper portion of an internal lateralsurface of the ring 8 facing the lateral surface of the substratesupporting apparatus 3, and also, a thin layer 25 b is deposited on alateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in an x-axisdirection and an internal lateral surface of the ring 8 facing thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3.

When deviation of centering of the substrate supporting apparatus isrepaired and cleaning of blind spots is additionally performed after thesubstrate processing process, a down time of the substrate processingapparatus will be longer, and efficient repair and maintenance isdifficult. According to a substrate processing method of the presentdisclosure as below, while repairing deviation of centering of thesubstrate supporting apparatus, blind spots may be cleaned at the sametime, and thus, the down time may be shortened.

FIG. 16 schematically illustrates a substrate processing methodaccording to other embodiments of the present disclosure.

The substrate processing method of FIG. 16 is a modified example of amethod of cleaning the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 12.Hereinafter, repeated description among the embodiments will be omitted.

After unloading a substrate (S01), a first operation of moving thesubstrate supporting apparatus in a first direction by a first presetdistance may be performed (S1601).

The first direction may be a radius direction of the substratesupporting apparatus (that is, a direction parallel to a groundsurface). According to a selective embodiment, the first direction maybe a −x-axis direction. For example, the substrate supporting apparatusmay be moved relative to the ring in the −x-axis direction. In thiscase, the first preset distance may be equal to or greater than (aninner diameter of the ring−an outer diameter of the substrate supportingapparatus)/2. Alternatively, the first preset distance may be equal toor less than (the inner diameter of the ring−the outer diameter of thesubstrate supporting apparatus).

In operation S1601, while the substrate supporting apparatus is moved,the substrate supporting apparatus may be in contact with or not incontact with the ring. When the substrate supporting apparatus is incontact with the ring, if the substrate supporting apparatus is movedcontinuously even after the substrate supporting apparatus and the ringare in contact with each other, the ring may be moved in the firstdirection due to a pushing force of the substrate supporting apparatus.This will be described later with reference to FIG. 17A. When thesubstrate supporting apparatus is not in contact with the ring, nopushing force will be exerted on the ring, and thus, the ring will notbe moved.

By moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the first direction inoperation S1601 of FIG. 16, a portion of a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus and a portion of an internal lateralsurface of the ring may be exposed to a reaction space. Next, a cleaninggas supplied to the reaction space may clean an exposed portion of thelateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus and/or an exposedportion of the internal lateral surface of the ring.

Next, a second operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus ina second direction by a second preset distance may be performed (S1603).

The second direction may be an opposite direction to the firstdirection. For example, when the first direction is a −x-axis direction,the second direction may be an x-axis direction.

The second preset distance may be (an inner diameter of the ring−anouter diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2. As will bedescribed later, as the second preset distance has the above value, thesubstrate supporting apparatus may be centered with respect to the ring.

Next, a third operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus inthe second direction by the first preset distance may be performed(S1605).

In operation S1605, while the substrate supporting apparatus is moved,the substrate supporting apparatus may be in contact with the ring. Whenthe substrate supporting apparatus is moved continuously even after thesubstrate supporting apparatus and the ring are in contact with eachother, the ring may be moved in the second direction due to a pushingforce of the substrate supporting apparatus.

By moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the second direction inoperation S1605 of FIG. 16, a portion of a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus and a portion of an internal lateralsurface of the ring may be exposed to the reaction space. Next, acleaning gas supplied to the reaction space may clean an exposed portionof the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus and/or anexposed portion of the internal lateral surface of the ring.

Next, a fourth operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus inthe first direction by the second preset distance may be performed(S1607).

It is to be noted that when the second direction is opposite to thefirst direction, after operations S1601 through S1607 are performed, afinal position of the substrate supporting apparatus is identical to aninitial position of the substrate supporting apparatus. This is becauseduring operations S1601 through S1607, the substrate supportingapparatus are moved by the first preset distance in a first directionand a negative first direction, and also, by the second preset distancein the first direction and the negative first direction. Nevertheless,through operations S1601 through operation S1607, in the firstdirection, the substrate supporting apparatus may be centered withrespect to the ring. This is because during operation S1601 and/oroperation S1605, a position of the ring is varied by the substratesupporting apparatus. That is, according to the present disclosure,instead of correcting a position of the substrate supporting apparatus,a position of the ring is corrected to center the substrate supportingapparatus with respect to the ring. This will be described later withreference to FIGS. 17A and 17F.

Next, a fifth operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus ina third direction by the first preset distance may be performed (S1609).

The third direction may be a direction horizontal to a ground surface.In addition, the third direction may be perpendicular to the firstdirection and the second direction. According to an alternativeembodiment, the third direction may be a y-axis direction. For example,the substrate supporting apparatus may be moved relative to the ring inthe y-axis direction.

In operation S1609, while the substrate supporting apparatus is moved,the substrate supporting apparatus may be in contact with or not incontact with the ring. When the substrate supporting apparatus is incontact with the ring, if the substrate supporting apparatus is movedcontinuously even after the substrate supporting apparatus and the ringare in contact with each other, the ring may be moved in the thirddirection due to a pushing force of the substrate supporting apparatus.

In addition, by moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the thirddirection in operation S1609 of FIG. 16, a portion of a lateral surfaceof the substrate supporting apparatus and a portion of the internallateral surface of the ring may be exposed to the reaction space. Next,a cleaning gas supplied to the reaction space may clean an exposedportion of the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatusand/or an exposed portion of the internal lateral surface of the ring.

Next, a sixth operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus ina fourth direction by the second preset distance may be performed(S1611).

The fourth direction may be perpendicular to the first direction and thesecond direction. In addition, the fourth direction may be an oppositedirection to the third direction. For example, when the third directionis a y-axis direction, the fourth direction may be a −y-axis direction.

Next, a seventh operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatusin the fourth direction by the first preset distance (operation S1613),and an eighth operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus inthe third direction by the second preset distance (operation S1615) maybe performed.

In operation S1613, while the substrate supporting apparatus is moved,the substrate supporting apparatus may be in contact with or not incontact with the ring. When the substrate supporting apparatus is incontact with the ring, if the substrate supporting apparatus is movedcontinuously even after the substrate supporting apparatus and the ringare in contact with each other, the ring may be moved in the fourthdirection due to a pushing force of the substrate supporting apparatus.

In addition, by moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the fourthdirection in operation S1613 of FIG. 16, a portion of the lateralsurface of the substrate supporting apparatus and a portion of theinternal lateral surface of the ring may be exposed to the reactionspace. Next, a cleaning gas supplied to the reaction space may clean anexposed portion of the lateral surface of the substrate supportingapparatus and/or an exposed portion of the internal lateral surface ofthe ring.

In the same context as operation S1601 through operation S1607, when thefourth direction is opposite to the third direction, after operationS1609 through operation S1615 are performed, a final position of thesubstrate supporting apparatus is identical to an initial position ofthe substrate supporting apparatus. Nevertheless, through operationS1609 through operation S1615, the substrate supporting apparatus may becentered with respect to the ring in the third direction. This isbecause during operation S1609 and/or operation S1613, the ring is movedby the substrate supporting apparatus in the third direction or thefourth direction.

According to the substrate processing method of the present embodiment,a cleaning gas may be continuously supplied (S1600) to an upper space (5in FIG. 1) of the substrate supporting apparatus during the firstoperation (S1601) through the eighth operation (S1615). However,according to another embodiment, a cleaning gas may be supplied betweenthe first operation (S1601) and the second operation (S1603), andbetween the third operation (S1605) and the fourth operation (S1607),between the fifth operation (S1609) and the sixth operation (S1611), andbetween the seventh operation (S1613) and the eighth operation (S1615).

FIGS. 17A through 17F schematically illustrate a method of cleaning thinlayers 25 a and 25 b deposited between the substrate supportingapparatus 3 and the ring 8 while simultaneously centering the substratesupporting apparatus 3 of FIG. 15 with respect to the ring 8 by usingthe substrate processing method of FIG. 16. However, it will be obviousto one of ordinary skill in the art to derive that the same result maybe obtained by using the cleaning method of FIG. 12 instead of thesubstrate processing method of FIG. 16 (for example, when using thecleaning method of FIG. 12, if the first preset distance through thefourth preset distance are (an inner diameter of the ring−an outerdiameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2).

For convenience of description, hereinafter, it will be assumed that thefirst direction is a −x-axis direction (a direction to the left in thedrawing), the second direction is an x-axis direction (a direction tothe right in the drawing), the third direction is a y-axis direction (adirection passing through into the drawing), and the fourth direction isa −y-axis direction (a direction passing through and coming out of thedrawing), and the first preset distance and the second preset distanceare (inner diameter D of the ring−outer diameter C of the substratesupporting apparatus)/2.

First, referring to FIGS. 16 and 17A, according to operation S1601 ofFIG. 16, by using the controller 15 and the alignment apparatus 14, thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in the first direction(−x-axis direction) by the first preset distance (the inner diameter Dof the ring−the outer diameter C of the substrate supportingapparatus)/2).

In the present embodiment, since A1<(D−C)/2, during operation S1601,after moving by A1, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 is in contactwith the ring 8, and may be further moved by the rest of the distance((D−C)/2−A1) while maintaining a contact state with the ring 8.Accordingly, while maintaining the contact state with the substratesupporting apparatus 3, the ring 8 may be moved along a movementdirection of the substrate supporting apparatus (that is, −x-axisdirection) by ((D−C)/2−A1)).

Accordingly, on the left side, a distance between an outer wall of thering 8 to the step portion S is e−((D−C)/2−A1). In response to this, onthe right side, a distance between the outer wall of the ring 8 to thestep portion S is e+(D−C)/2−A1.

In addition, on the left side, a gap distance between the substratesupporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8 is 0, and on the right side, a gapdistance between the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8 isthen (D−C).

As described above, as the substrate supporting apparatus 3 is moved ina −x direction via operation S1601 of FIG. 16, a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 in the x-axis direction and an internallateral surface of the ring 8 facing the lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 in the x-axis direction may be exposedto the reaction space 5. That is, the layer 25 b may be exposed in thereaction space 5.

Next, a cleaning gas may be supplied to the reaction space 5. Here, thelateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the internallateral surface of the ring 8 that are exposed to the reaction space 5may be cleaned. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 17B, the thin layer 25 bdeposited on the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3and the internal lateral surface of the ring 8 may be removed (250 b).

In order to prevent a cleaning gas in the reaction space 5 from enteringthe chamber inner space 10 through the gap G, the cleaning method mayfurther include supplying a gas to the lower space 10 of the substratesupporting apparatus 3 during supplying a cleaning gas to the upperspace 5 of the substrate supporting apparatus 3.

Next, referring to FIGS. 16 and 17C, according to operation S1603 ofFIG. 16, an operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus 3 inthe second direction (x-axis direction) by the second preset distance((D−C)/2) may be performed.

In operation S1603 of FIG. 16, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 doesnot push the ring 8 while it is being moved, and thus, the position ofthe ring 8 is not changed. Accordingly, also when operation S1603 isperformed, on the left, a distance from the outer wall of the ring 8 tothe step portion S is still e−((D−C)/2−A1).

In addition, due to movement of the substrate supporting apparatus 3, onthe left, a gap distance between the substrate supporting apparatus 3and the ring 8 is (D−C)/2, and on the right, a gap distance between thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8 is also (D−C)/2. Thatis, according to operation S1601 and operation S1603, the substratesupporting apparatus 3 is centered with respect to the ring 8 on anx-axis, and at the same time, the thin layer 25 b is removed.

Next, referring to FIGS. 16 and 17D, according to operation S1605 ofFIG. 16, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in the seconddirection (x-axis direction) by the second preset distance.

In the present embodiment, the first preset distance is (D−C)/2, andthus, during operation S1605, the substrate supporting apparatus 3contacts the ring 8 after moving by (D−C)/2. In operation S1605, thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 does not push the ring 8 while it isbeing moved, and thus, the position of the ring 8 is not changed.

As illustrated in FIG. 17D, as the substrate supporting apparatus 3 ismoved in the second direction (an x-axis direction) via operation S1605of FIG. 16, a lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 inan −x-axis direction and an internal lateral surface of the ring 8facing the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in an−x-axis direction may be exposed to the reaction space 5. That is, alayer 25 a may be exposed to the reaction space 5.

Next, a cleaning gas may be supplied to the reaction space 5. Here, thelateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 and the internallateral surface of the ring 8 that are exposed to the reaction space 5may be cleaned. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 17E, the thin layer 25 adeposited on the lateral surface of the substrate supporting apparatus 3and the internal lateral surface of the ring 8 may be removed (250 a).

In order to prevent a cleaning gas in the reaction space 5 from enteringthe chamber inner space 10 through the gap G, the cleaning method mayfurther include supplying a gas to the lower space 10 of the substratesupporting apparatus 3 during supplying a cleaning gas to the upperspace 5 of the substrate supporting apparatus 3.

Next, referring to FIGS. 16 and 17F, operation S1607 of FIG. 16 may beperformed, and the substrate supporting apparatus 3 may be moved in thefirst direction (an −x-axis direction) by the second preset distance((D−C)/2).

In operation S1607 of FIG. 16, the substrate supporting apparatus 3 doesnot push the ring 8 while it is being moved, and thus, the position ofthe ring 8 is not changed.

In addition, due to movement of the substrate supporting apparatus 3, onthe left, a gap distance between the substrate supporting apparatus 3and the ring 8 is (D−C)/2, and on the right, a gap distance between thesubstrate supporting apparatus 3 and the ring 8 is also (D−C)/2. Thatis, according to operation S1603 and operation S1605, the substratesupporting apparatus 3 is centered with respect to the ring 8 on anx-axis, and at the same time, the thin layers 25 a and 25 b are removed(250 a, 250 b).

After operations S1601 through operation S1607 are performed, a finalposition of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 (that is, a position ofthe substrate supporting apparatus 3 in FIG. 17F) is identical to aninitial position of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 (that is, aposition of the substrate supporting apparatus 3 in FIG. 15).Nevertheless, compared with FIGS. 15 and 17F, the substrate supportingapparatus 3 slanted to the left with respect to the ring 8 is centeredaccording to operation S1601 through operation S1607 of FIG. 16. This isbecause, during operation S1601 through operation S1607, a position ofthe ring 8 is varied by the movement of substrate supporting apparatus3. In practice, the ring 8 of FIG. 17F is moved to the left compared tothe ring 8 by (D−C)/2−A1, compared to FIG. 15.

FIGS. 17A through 17F illustrate a process of cleaning blind spots whilecentering the substrate supporting apparatus 3 with respect to the ring8 on an x-axis by performing operation S1601 through operation S1607 ofFIG. 16. Similarly, when operation S1609 through operation S1615 of FIG.16 are performed with respect to a y-axis, the substrate supportingapparatus 3 may be centered relative to the ring 8 also on the y-axis,and the other blind spots will also be cleaned. That is, by performingoperation S1601 through operation S1615 of FIG. 16, the substratesupporting apparatus 3 may be centered with respect to the ring 8, andat the same time, blind spots between the substrate supporting apparatus3 and the ring 8 may be cleaned.

According to the substrate cleaning method and the substrate processingmethod of the present disclosure, by moving the substrate supportingapparatus vertically or horizontally, cleaning may be performedefficiently. In addition, blind spots may be cleaned without additionalwet cleaning and without having to disassemble the substrate processingapparatus, and thus, maintenance of the substrate processing apparatusmay be easy. In addition, according to the substrate cleaning method andthe substrate processing method of the present disclosure, whilecleaning the blind spots, the substrate supporting apparatus may becentered with respect to the ring, and thus, maintenance of thesubstrate processing apparatus may be efficient.

It should be understood that embodiments described herein should beconsidered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes oflimitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodimentshould typically be considered as available for other similar featuresor aspects in other embodiments.

While one or more embodiments have been described with reference to thefigures, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the artthat various changes in form and details may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of cleaning a substrate processingapparatus including one or more reactors, wherein each reactorcomprises: a substrate supporting apparatus; and a ring surrounding thesubstrate supporting apparatus, wherein a gap is present between thesubstrate supporting apparatus and the ring, and wherein an upper spaceof the substrate supporting apparatus communicates with a lower space ofthe substrate supporting apparatus via the gap, wherein the ring isconfigured to be movable via a pushing force of the substrate supportingapparatus, wherein the method comprises: moving the substrate supportingapparatus relative to the ring to widen a first gap between the ring anda first side of the substrate supporting apparatus and to narrow asecond gap between the ring and a second side of the substratesupporting apparatus; and supplying a cleaning gas to the upper space ofthe substrate supporting apparatus to flow the cleaning gas at leastinto the first gap.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the moving of thesubstrate supporting apparatus relative to the ring comprises: a firstoperation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in a firstdirection by a first preset distance; a second operation of moving thesubstrate supporting apparatus in a second direction by the first presetdistance; a third operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatusin the second direction by a second preset distance; and a fourthoperation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the firstdirection by the second preset distance, wherein the second direction isopposite to the first direction.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein thefirst direction or the second direction is a thickness direction of thesubstrate supporting apparatus.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein thefirst preset distance is equal to or less than a thickness of thesubstrate supporting apparatus.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein thesecond preset distance is equal to or less than a thickness of the ring.6. The method of claim 2, wherein the first direction or the seconddirection is a radius direction of the substrate supporting apparatus.7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first preset distance or thesecond preset distance is (an inner diameter of the ring−an outerdiameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2.
 8. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the moving of the substrate supporting apparatusrelative to the ring comprises: a fifth operation of moving thesubstrate supporting apparatus in a third direction by a third presetdistance; a sixth operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatusin a fourth direction by the third preset distance; a seventh operationof moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the fourth direction bya fourth preset distance; and an eighth operation of moving thesubstrate supporting apparatus in the third direction by the fourthpreset distance, wherein the third direction is opposite to the fourthdirection and is perpendicular to the first direction and the seconddirection.
 9. The method of claim 2, wherein the cleaning gas iscontinuously supplied in the first through fourth operations.
 10. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the cleaning gas is supplied between thefirst operation and the second operation and between the third operationand the fourth operation.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein thecleaning gas is further supplied before the first operation, wherein asupply period of the cleaning gas between the first operation and thesecond operation and between the third operation and the fourthoperation is less than a supply period before the first operation. 12.The method of claim 1, further comprising supplying a gas to the lowerspace of the substrate supporting apparatus during the operation ofsupplying the cleaning gas to the upper space of the substratesupporting apparatus, wherein the gas supplied to the lower spaceprevents the cleaning gas in the upper space from entering the lowerspace through the gap.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein, during thesupplying of the cleaning gas to the upper space of the substratesupporting apparatus, a thin layer deposited on a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus or an internal lateral surface of thering is removed.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the method isperformed every time when a series of processings or a plurality ofseries of processings on one or more substrates are completed.
 15. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the method is performed on a first reactor asa first process and a second reactor as a second process, and the firstprocess and the second process are performed simultaneously or atdifferent times.
 16. A method of cleaning a substrate processingapparatus including one or more reactors, wherein each reactorcomprises: an upper body; a substrate supporting apparatus; and amovable ring surrounding the substrate supporting apparatus and arrangedbetween the substrate supporting apparatus and the upper body, whereinthe upper body and the substrate supporting apparatus form a reactionspace, wherein the method comprises: moving the substrate supportingapparatus to widen a first gap between a lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus and an internal lateral surface of thering, to the reaction space; and supplying a cleaning gas to thereaction space to flow the cleaning gas at least into the first gap. 17.The method of claim 16, wherein, while supplying the cleaning gas to thereaction space, an exposed portion of the lateral surface of thesubstrate supporting apparatus or an exposed portion of the internallateral surface of the ring is cleaned.
 18. A substrate processingmethod of a substrate processing apparatus including a plurality ofreactors, wherein each reactor comprises: a substrate supportingapparatus; and a ring surrounding the substrate supporting apparatus,wherein a gap is present between the substrate supporting apparatus andthe ring, wherein a surface of the ring is in contact with the substratesupporting apparatus as the substrate supporting apparatus moves and isinstalled to be movable via a pushing force of the substrate supportingapparatus, wherein the substrate processing method comprises: a firstoperation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in a firstdirection by a first preset distance; a second operation of moving thesubstrate supporting apparatus in a second direction by a second presetdistance; a third operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatusin the second direction by the first preset distance; a fourth operationof moving the substrate supporting apparatus in the first direction bythe second preset distance; a fifth operation of moving the substratesupporting apparatus in a third direction by the first preset distance;a sixth operation of moving the substrate supporting apparatus in afourth direction by the second preset distance; a seventh operation ofmoving the substrate supporting apparatus in the fourth direction by thefirst preset distance; an eighth operation of moving the substratesupporting apparatus in the third direction by the second presetdistance; and supplying a cleaning gas to an upper portion of thesubstrate supporting apparatus, wherein the second direction is oppositeto the first direction, and the fourth direction is perpendicular to thefirst direction and the second direction and is opposite to the thirddirection.
 19. The substrate processing method of claim 18, wherein thesupplying of the cleaning gas to the upper portion of the substratesupporting apparatus is continuously performed during the firstoperation through the eighth operation, or between the first operationand the second operation, between the third operation and the fourthoperation, between the fifth operation and the sixth operation, andbetween the seventh operation and the eighth operation.
 20. Thesubstrate processing method of claim 18, wherein the first presetdistance may be equal to or greater than (an inner diameter of thering−an outer diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2, andwherein the second preset distance may be (an inner diameter of thering−an outer diameter of the substrate supporting apparatus)/2.